Discussing resilience with former Air Force pilot Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger
Captain Sully, who faced death and danger in the air force and his family—and is best known for making an emergency landing in the Hudson River—discusses the role of flexibility in his life
Resilience Lessons from Sully
Former airline pilot Captain "Sully" Sullenberger hadn’t expected to become an expert in resilience. But after his father’s suicide and his “Miracle on the Hudson,” when he landed a passenger plane in the Hudson River, he learned a thing or two. He shares his thoughts in this podcast.
Podcast Transcript
[00:00:00] Stephen: From the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, this is Road to Resilience, a podcast about facing adversity. I'm Stephen Calabria.
[00:00:12] Today on the show we have former airline pilot, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. As a former US Air Force fighter pilot, and an airline pilot for 30 years Captain Sully Sullenberger has always been passionate about safety, leadership, risk management, and crisis management. Given a greater voice after his historic successful Hudson River landing in 2009, he has felt a deep obligation to use his voice for good.
[00:00:37] He most recently directed his efforts towards safety and global air travel, serving as the US Ambassador and representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations specialized agency. But for many years, Captain Sullenberger has been vocal about safety, not just in the aviation and medical fields, but across all industries.
[00:00:57] He has testified before congressional committees many times and lent his expertise to shaping safety legislation, and he speaks in defense of democracy and American values. In 2009, with more than 20,000 hours of flight time, Captain Sullenberger, along with his First Officer Jeff Skiles safely guided US Airways flight 1549 to an emergency landing in the Hudson River in what has become known as the Miracle on the Hudson. All 155 passengers and crews survived.
[00:01:26] Captain Sullenberger joins us now.
[00:01:29] Captain Sullenberger, welcome to the show, sir.
[00:01:31] Sully: Thank you, Steven. Great to be with you.
[00:01:33] Stephen: Now, if you would, uh, did you always want to be a pilot?
[00:01:36] Sully: Well, almost always, you know, people think I always wanted to be a pilot, but for a very brief time, when I was probably about four and a half or five, I wanted to be a policeman or a fireman, as we called firefighters in those days.